Doing Ones Duty
by gawilliams
Summary: Jack has a decision to make about retirement just after the pilot episode of Stargate Universe.


_This one is to take a look at our two favorite characters within the new series context. I was pleased to see that Jack was now a three star general, but at the same time wondered about the issue of retirement. This story deal with that and also adds in a relationship between him and Carter, naturally. I hope you all enjoy it. Gregg._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill was at his wits end. This had to be the most difficult situation he'd been in since becoming Director of Homeworld Security. A mixed band of civilians and military personnel were now outward bound on a massive Ancient vessel that was heading out to deep space exploring the universe and were at that moment several billion light years away. At least they knew now what had happened to the group that had been trying to gate to Earth, but the result of the discovery was hardly satisfactory. It was times like this that he wished that George Hammond were still alive and responsible for all of this.

Imagine. Three months to retirement and a whole new set of problems are set in motion. Carter was on her way back and about to receive a well deserved promotion to Brigadier General. She would be working at HWS as Director of Sciences and also Director of Operations. The dual posting would take advantage of her time on Atlantis and also her phenomenal mind when it came to science. Now that Atlantis was heading back to the Pegasus Galaxy, Earth needed a scientific mind of her caliber. McKay had done in a pinch while Carter commanded the Hammond, but she was the only one that had the whole package in Jack's opinion. He also wanted Carter's brilliance in on this one to see if the circumstances allowing a successful gate connection to the Ancient ship could be achieved. If nothing else a regular stream of supplies could be offered if successful. Maybe even a way of allowing a connection back could be discovered.

"General?" his aide, Major McGowan, said from the door to Jack's small office just off the HWS Ops Center. The Ops Center was deep below the Pentagon and access was so restricted that none of the Joint Chiefs were allowed entrance except upon Presidential permission. Jack still had an office in the E-Ring of the Pentagon, but he mainly worked down here where all the action was.

"Yeah?" Jack said as he looked up at the young man. They were getting younger and younger, he mused. He himself was still in excellent physical condition, but he had more weight on his frame than he liked. Now that Carter would be back on Earth, maybe he could get back to a regular workout schedule. That and getting laid regularly. They'd been married since the end of the Ori War and had been dating for two years before that.

"The Hammond just entered orbit, Sir," McGowan informed his boss.

"Thanks, McGowan," he told the man. "I'll handle this. I should be beaming up there in a few minutes and will not be coming back down until later today when I have to meet with the President."

"Any orders for while you're away from Ops, Sir?"

"Just the usual, Major," Jack shrugged. He was tired as he'd had a long conversation with his science staff that morning early. Nothing was really happening at that moment, so he didn't want to pile on more busy work on everyone. They knew their jobs and did them well. They sure as shit didn't need "The Man" standing over their shoulders. He stood up and holstered his .45. He never went anywhere without being armed anymore. "I won't be in until 0900 tomorrow," he continued. He'd love to be later than that, but Carter would just have to settle for one round instead of two of Hot Morning Monkey Sex.

He looked across his desk to see if there was anything else he needed outside of his briefcase and didn't see anything pressing. He had become used to working behind a desk these last few years, but he couldn't say that he actually liked it. He missed the action, and took any opportunity to get out in the field, though he could do without situations like his stint on Atlantis with Woolsey that one time. Taking the briefcase, he took out a comm device.

"Hammond, this is O'Neill," he said firmly. "Beam me aboard," he ordered. His office was bathed in a white light and he disappeared, only to reappear in the main beaming room of the large battlecruiser. Carter's ship was the largest and most powerful in the Fleet, and he always enjoyed coming on board.

"Welcome aboard, General," an eager to please lieutenant said from from the control panel.

"Good to be here," Jack said in reply. "Where's Colonel Carter?"

"She's on the Bridge, Sir," the young woman said with a smile. The marriage, and close ties, between General O'Neill and Colonel Carter was legendary.

"I know the way," Jack said with a smile. "As you were," he added as he walked out of the room and headed unerringly to the Bridge. He nodded to the crew as he passed through the corridors. He had to admit that Carter ran a ship shape ship. It was perfectly on the ball, but laid back enough that he could readily see the influences she had picked up from him over the years.

"TEN HUTT!" some ass bellowed the second he entered the Bridge.

He glared at the offending dweeb. "Do that again and you'll be peeling spuds in the SGC mess the rest of your career," he said caustically.

"Yes, Sir," came a very subdued reply.

"Don't scare my crew, Sir," Carter said smiling as she walked over to him. She didn't salute as she had made a command decision to do away with that on the ship, and knew that he didn't really care for that courtesy, either, when on ship, or in tight quarters. She'd heard of the Naval tradition of not saluting indoors, and agreed with it wholeheartedly.

"Carter!" Jack said with his usual shit eating grin and happy tone when he saw her. "If I can't scare the bejeezus out of some young nut who wants to deafen me, then what's the point of being 'The Man'?" he asked innocently.

"Just because you're 'The Man' doesn't mean you can do whatever you want," Sam teased him, enjoying the rapt attention that they were getting from the rest of the Bridge crew. It was old hat by now, all the attention that the members of the original SG-1 got, so anymore it was just amusing.

"Daniel says I can do whatever I want," Jack defended himself with his favorite argument.

"If you'd have listened to Daniel it wouldn't have taken us eight years to begin dating, and ten years to get married," Sam pointed out.

"It was a conspiracy," Jack gamely argued, knowing that the banter was their way of easing the stresses of the real world around them, and also letting the crew know that all was well with the leadership. "Space Monkey sabotaged the whole thing. He ruined the master plan."

Sam quirked a smile. This was a new one and she wanted to hear what creative argument he had this time. "Oh did he?" she questioned.

"Yes," Jack nodded firmly.

"And just how did he do that?" she asked curiously.

"He told me to play hard to get and you'd be all hot and bothered for me in no time," Jack stated.

Sam almost burst out laughing. "And just when did he say this?" she asked.

"Right after we almost froze to death in Antarctica," Jack said sheepishly.

"Uh, General, didn't it seem a little odd that I wasn't 'all hot and bothered' for you after a few years, and that I actually almost married someone else?" she asked. She despised bringing up the subject of Pete, but Jack was notorious for making outrageous arguments when they bantered, so anything was fair game at that point. She also didn't bother add that she'd been _very_ hot and bothered for him from the day she first met him and challenged him to an arm wrestle. She'd just been much more interested in adhering to regs at that time. She knew better than to believe in all that sanctimonious bullshit now.

"Well I have to admit that it did seem a bit odd, especially the whole almost marrying someone else thing, but I figured that the old saying 'Good things come to those who wait' was in play by then and that Daniel had been yanking my chain all along," Jack told her. He rather despised how much of a fucking coward he'd been all those years. He now knew full well that if he'd gone to Hammond that their late friend and CO would have gotten special dispensation for them to have a relationship, but that hadn't been known at the time.

"So Daniel sabotaged the 'Master Plan', huh?" she smiled. "And just what was the Master Plan?" she inquired, thinking that she'd get an answer and then shut down the banter and take him to her conference room so they could discuss events and the upcoming changes.

"Get warm again after almost freezing to death and then beg you to go out with me so I could prove it wasn't my sidearm after all," Jack said completely deadpan.

Sam's eyes widened. That was a new one on her. Maybe Daniel had cautioned him to wait and see what would come about on its own, and if that was true he was in for an ass kicking courtesy of one Colonel Sam Carter, but one thing was painfully obvious. Jack had had serious feelings for her even at that early juncture. It was something that they almost never discussed as the many miscues and her one year dalliance and engagement with Pete were extremely upsetting to them both. She looked over at her Bridge crew and saw them smiling. This was good for them to see, and she knew that it made their commanding officers, who were treated almost as legends anymore, as that much more human. It was why Jack's approach to command was so perfect and successful.

"Let's go to the conference room and discuss what's going on," Sam suggested.

Jack was no dummy, despite the image he tried to present, and knew that the banter was finished and had accomplished its outward purpose, as well as the more personal aspects. "Lead the way, Carter," he directed her.

When they got to the conference room, Jack placed his briefcase on the table and sat across from Carter. He may engage in some banter with her on duty, but he was a bit uncomfortable with PDA's. Unless, of course, he was retired or had just resigned like in the time loop when he'd handed George his resignation and then proceeded to give Carter a grab, dip, and kiss with some serious tongue action thrown in. She still didn't know about that one and he wasn't about to reveal it anytime soon. With his luck she'd have him sleeping on the couch for all eternity for doing such a thing and not let her in on the secret so she could have a go at it, too. He pulled out a couple of files and passed them over to her.

"There's the orders for your new assignment," he told her. He watched as she looked them over. They weren't any different from the ones she'd been told about a few weeks earlier, but any good officer looks over the written orders to make sure that no surprises were waiting for them. "The second set are your promotion orders, effective immediately."

"So we get to work together again for three months," Sam said with a smile. She knew that Jack was tired and looking forward to his retirement, even though he had agreed to accept a special, highly classified, set of TDY retirement waiver orders to maintain his availability as a military, as opposed to a civilian, consultant. He really was indispensable to the program. He'd be retired, just not on paper.

Jack gave a half smile. "Actually that's why I beamed up here," he told her. "I'm thinking of not retiring."

Sam set down the file she was holding and looked at her husband. She knew that this conversation was now one of those rather odd ones that was part professional, part personal that they had every once in a while. He was asking her opinion from two different perspectives. "Why do you want to stay on active duty?" she questioned. His motives would be a really good measuring stick as to his resolve. He was now in his mid-fifties and could remain on active duty without special dispensation for some time yet, so there was no problem with what he was thinking, but she needed to know why.

"I gave the go ahead for that project and now those people are stranded on that ship," Jack sighed. "I don't know if I can live with myself if I simply retire without knowing one way or the other if we can get them back."

"We don't leave anyone behind," Sam replied, repeating the one mantra that Jack had always lived by in his career.

"Exactly," Jack nodded. He leaned back in his chair with a deep sigh. "I'm just so damn tired, Sam."

Sam smiled when he said her name. It meant he was really in the moment with it being just the two of them. Ordinarily he called her Carter like he always had, and she considered that a genuine term of endearment, but she couldn't deny the effect that his saying her name had on her.

"There are good people working on this, Jack," she reminded him.

"It's not the same," he pointed out, knowing she would understand. He was thinking of the time she led the rescue effort for Sheppard and the others when they were trapped in that explosion a year before.

"How tired are you, Jack?" she asked bluntly. She had not been around much in the last year, in fact the last couple of years if one added in her time in command of Atlantis, so she felt justified in asking. Even though they were married, he was still incredibly tight lipped about how he was feeling, physically and emotionally. She got more out of him as his wife, but not a whole lot more. She'd come to accept that since the really important fact was that she was finally together with Jack.

"Having the Ops Center constructed and moving my day to day work down there helped," he admitted, "but I still feel like all I'm doing is pushing paper. Hayes and everyone else can tell me how great I'm doing all they want, but it doesn't change the fact that I spend way too much time behind that desk. I've gained weight and I'm slowing down, Sam. It's all I can do in the morning to drag myself out of bed with any kind of enthusiasm."

"How was your last annual physical?" she questioned.

"I'm going to need a knee replacement on my right knee in a year or so," he told her simply. "Doc wants me to lose about 15 pounds and spend some more time in the gym or swimming so I can get some good cardio exercising in."

"Blood sugar and cholesterol?" she pressed. He still had a monumental sweet tooth and he really went to town on steak and other foods with a great deal of saturated fats.

"Both normal," he told her, and he made sure that his body language told her he was being serious. The last thing he needed was to lie, and be caught, about his physical. Sleeping on the couch would be the least of his worries now that she was being stationed on Earth again.

"Has anyone asked you to retire?" she asked the one question she'd been curious about. He'd told her months before that he was retiring, but not any of the surrounding circumstances.

"No," he replied, knowing what she was getting at. "In fact Hayes wants me to stay on as long as I want, and is also offering me a fourth star to make this a four star command."

That last didn't surprised Sam at all. From a practical standpoint Jack was exercising the authority of a four star general officer, and many of his foreign subordinates at the liaison level were the equivalent of an American four star general. In personal terms, after all that Jack had done since the Stargate program had come into existence, he deserved to go out as a four star general. Really a five star, but because that was a wartime rank and the entire existence of the Stargate and Earth's space born activities was highly classified, he couldn't get that specific rank. People would rightfully ask what war he was fighting and directing.

"Then don't retire right away," Sam suggested. "I'm going to be here now, and we'll have time to do things together, Jack. Let's give it some time and if, after you get the knee replacement, you still feel you should retire, then you can. That way you can work on getting those people home, and further prepare a replacement for you."

"The question I have, Sam, is do you want me to retire?" he asked her. "You're as much a part of my decision as anything is. We finally have a real chance for some time to ourselves with both of us on Earth."

Sam felt a warm thrum of emotion wash over her as he said that. Whenever he talked about "them" it was like all other concerns left the room. He was focusing on her, and in a way that no one had ever done so before with her.

"We'll have time, Jack," she assured him. "Just let me worry about that. Maybe it's my turn to keep an eye on you at work and make sure you don't overdo it. You sure made me live a little when we were all at the SGC."

"Me overdo it?" he grinned. "I find that one hard to believe Miss Work Till I Drop."

"I've talked with your aides, Jack," she told him with a look that dared him to contradict her worry about his overdoing it.

"We are definitely going to have to talk about the whole concept of 'need to know', Carter," Jack grumbled.

"So you're not going to retire," Sam observed, knowing that Jack had likely made up his mind beforehand, but at the same time wasn't doing anything unless she was in agreement.

"No," Jack replied, though he did so reluctantly. There were all the reasons in the world not to retire, and they had to do with duty, or at least his perception of duty, but the one reason to chuck it all and retire was sitting directly across from him. She, though, was supportive of whatever he decided. He made his decision on the side of duty, as always. "Retirement gets a pass once again."

"So what's happening the rest of the day?" Sam asked. Now it was back to the professional side of the conversation.

"As soon as you can get into your Blues, we'll beam down to the house and I'll get changed into mine," he told her. "After that, we have an appointment to see the President, where you will have your star pinned on by Hayes and yours truly."

"And the change of command?" she questioned. She had known that this would likely be rushed given the state of things recently, but she'd hoped for a week or so before the promotion and change of command.

"Colonel McLaughlin will be arriving in three days, so the day after that," Jack informed her. "Will that be enough time?"

Well four days was better than right away. "I should be ready," she replied. "I need to finish up my final personnel reports and update their records, and then I need to finish my final mission reports. I assume you'll want me reporting to HWS after the change of command?"

"You can take a couple of days after that to rest up, but not much longer than that," he nodded. "I want you to get started on a few projects as soon as possible, and the interim Director of Operations is in way over his head."

"Incompetence or just not ready?" Sam asked curiously as they stood up and she gathered up her orders and the promotion notice.

"He's a young light bird who happened to be the best of the lot in that section," Jack replied with a shrug. "He'll be ready in a few years and with a little more command experience under his belt. It's sure not his fault he got thrown in with the lions this soon."

An hour later, during which he had the very real joy of seeing Carter in her quarters getting undressed, though due to time a no touching rule was in place, and dressed in her Blues. No one would ever convince him that any other woman in creation was hotter than Carter. Just not possible. Even Uma Thurman, the Celestial Body, was found wanting when it came to Carter. He did, though, let out a few appreciative whistles and words of encouragement during the abbreviated strip show and cover up. He was already making plans for the Hot Monkey Sex that he would be having that night. Might as well start shaving off those excess pounds that very day, after all.

"Ready?" Carter asked when she finished retouching her makeup now that she had her dress uniform on.

"How about a quickie at the house before seeing Hayes?" Jack suggested with a waggle of his brows.

"No," she said firmly, though she flashed an amused smile at him. Leave it to Jack to want to have sex right before seeing the President.

"But it's been months, Carter," he practically whined as they walked out the door to her quarters. He was arguing more on Junior's behalf now, but it was a valid point. Even Carter loved sex as much as Jack did, and he hadn't thought that that would be possible.

"And you've survived this long without, so a few more hours won't hurt," she logically argued. She herself was wanting some action, too, so she could sympathize, but she was much more interested in a long, slow encounter for their first time together in months, so a quickie at this moment was out of the question as far as she was concerned. Perhaps in a day or two, but not now.

When they arrived at the White House they were both shown into the Oval Office almost immediately, and found President Hayes waiting for them. No one else was in the room, so it would obviously be a very private meeting. Jack was hoping for a short one so that he could hurry Carter back to the house and let the celebration begin. He tried valiantly not to tug at the collar on his dress Blues which he hated so much. He and Carter stood at attention and offered a salute. He was the Commander-in-Chief, after all.

"Forget all the formality," Hayes directed as he offered his hand to both of them. He had the highest regard for both of these officers and always felt as if he should be the one saluting them considering all the times these two and the rest of the original SG-1 had saved the planet. "First of all, I want to say well done for this past year in command of the Hammond," he told Carter. "George would have been proud."

"Thank you, Sir," Carter replied, all the while remembering their late friend and former CO.

"And congratulations on your promotion to Brigadier General," Hayes continued. "It's well deserved, and frankly I thought you should have had it when you were replaced on Atlantis. The IOA knows how angry I am over their decision, I think you should know. Woolsey has done a good job, but you deserved a Hell of a lot better than how you were treated."

"It's over and done with, Sir," Carter decided to be gracious about it. It had been over a year now and she had vented to Jack at the time it had happened, and he had let her know how he had let the idiots in the IOA know in his own way how pissed he'd been over it.

"And now you get to work for Jack again for three months until he retires," Hayes added. "That should be a good assignment."

"Actually, Sir, there's been a change in the plan," Jack interjected. "I've decided not to retire for the time being."

Hayes blinked. He'd been practically begging for months for Jack to not retire, but had gotten nowhere. The man was as stubborn as they came, and Hayes hadn't had a single argument that could sway him. Hearing this, Hayes felt like Christmas had come early. "Really?" he asked.

"It just doesn't feel right, leaving when this latest incident happened," Jack said directly.

Hayes knew what Jack was talking about. The clear look of determination on Jack's face when he'd briefed him on the situation had been something that hadn't been there since the end of the war with the Ori. It was like Jack had been rejuvenated somehow. Hayes knew the man was tired, and had honest reasons for retiring, especially with his wife now being stationed back on Earth, but Jack believed in carrying out his duty to his best ability.

"Alright," Hayes nodded. "I'll gladly rip up your retirement letter. I'm still working on making your post a four star command, but it's going to take some time, though."

"I'm not worried about any extra rank," Jack said bluntly.

"You may not, but I think you deserve it, Jack," Hayes said with genuine honesty.

"And so do I," Carter said from beside Jack. They were now sitting down on the couches, Jack and Sam across from Hayes. She saw Jack shrug and knew that he was just humoring them and that the rank meant nothing to him. She also knew that he had been happy as a Colonel and in command of SG-1, but had not been happy as a general officer. Maybe now that she was going to be with him all the time now things would get better for him.

"Well, why don't we move on to more enjoyable things?" Hayes suggested. "Colonel, I think it's time you get those new stars on your shoulder, don't you?"

Sam stood and smiled. "Thank you, Sir," she said as she came to attention.

Hayes quickly swore her in to her new rank and then he and Jack, on either side of her, removed her Colonel's eagles and pinned on one shiny star on each shoulder. She saluted both Jack and the President.

"Congratulations, General Carter," Hayes said with a smile. Jack had mentioned a number of times in passing that he thought Carter should be promoted, and while Hayes knew that Jack had not been trying to push anything, just making honest observation, Hayes had discreetly gotten into it with the DoD and pushed for it a bit. Jack had been right. Carter had deserved this before now.

"You've come a long way from that young Captain Carter I met over twelve years ago who challenged me to an arm wrestle," Jack smiled warmly. "I'm damn proud of you, Carter. Damn proud."

Sam was always buoyed by Jack's love for her, especially now that they were together, but it was his pride in her accomplishments that always brought her the greatest comfort. He'd been the one to give her an honest chance to prove herself in a mans world of special forces style combat, and he'd been willing to stand by her when the chips were down. He would never admit it, but she knew that he had pushed for every promotion she'd ever received, except this one (for obvious reasons).

"It's all because of you, Jack," she said, for one of the rare times using his name in an official setting.

"Well, as much as I'd like to talk some more, I have a lot more to do before I can call it a day," Hayes told the two generals. "Once you get settled into how things are going to work with the transition, let me know and the two of you can have dinner with my wife and I in the Residence. It'll do Jack good to get out a bit and socialize." He said that last with a smile.

Jack chuckled. "Now you know I socialize, Sir," he protested light heartedly. "I only do so at official functions, though, which I can't get out of. If I socialized at unofficial functions without Carter here to chaperon, she'd turn me into a Eunuch."

"I see you have him tamed and trained, General Carter," Hayes chuckled.

"It wasn't easy, but someone had to do it," Carter gave a dramatic sigh.

"Come on, Carter," Jack grinned, knowing the kind of training that Carter had employed. "It's time to head home so the Beast can get some more training. It seems the Beast Master has been a bit lax in her duties lately." He delighted in Carter turning beet red with that one, and also knew he'd be in for it when they got home. "I'll keep you updated on the situation, Sir," he told the President as he and Carter came to attention and saluted.

Hayes watched as the two officers left the Oval Office. He had never know two more dedicated officers, and he felt that if there was ever anyone who lived the ideal of doing ones duty, it was those two. Regardless, he knew that having Sam Carter here to keep an eye on Jack would be a very interesting experience. With a sigh he walked back over to his desk and called for the next meeting. He had his duty to do, too.

_A/N: I hope you all enjoy this one. I may or may not write more in this time frame and see where Jack and Sam wind up in a year or so. Gregg._


End file.
